Govt must initiate dialogue to end the stalemate: Manna

Convener of Nagorik Oilya Mahmudur Rahman said on Thursday that the government should take the initiative for dialogue to end the present political stalemate because its actions are to blame for the deterioration of the situation of the situation to the present state. Why the Prime Minister has to ask the law enforcing agencies to take maximum harsh steps to deal with the movement, he asked.
Exchanging opinion with journalists at Segunbagicha he said the Bnp-led alliance should respond to government initiative simultaneously. Replying to a question he said he would not call the opposition to withdraw its blockade programme on its own because what is the guarantee that killings, crossfire deaths, arrest of their workers would not increase. People also should not be killed by throwing petrol bombs.The Nagorik Oikya leader asked what would have been the harm had Bnp allowed to hold its public meetings at Gazipur and Dhaka. However the root of the problem was the 05, 2014 elections termed as meant to fulfill constitutional obligation, following which a fresh election was assured but has not been called. Such situations emerge when politics is not allowed normal play, he said
Mr. Manna said that education minister Nurul Islam Nahid seems to be in a contest to challenge the parties in movement by not shifting the SSC examinations which are scheduled to begin on 02 February. This should not be the approach if one seriously takes into consideration the safety and security of the 16 lakh examinees.
He said that the democratic space has shrunk to such an extent that political workers are afraid of police in going out to distribute handbills. During the past one year only the tip of the iceberg of people’s dissatisfactions was seen, now the whole thing has started surfacing. One cannot call others terrorists, militants and war criminals at will, he said.
Deploring the non-availability of confirmation from the police about Nagorik Oikya’s plan to hold a sit-in at the Shikha Chirantan at the Suhrawardy Udyan, to press for solution of the impasse, he said he wants to know the reason. He might prefer a writ petition in the High Court to find out why.
Coming back to the political stalemate he said in the past discords were settled through talks, the peace treaty on the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the anti-Ershad movement were examples. Dialogue and negotiations are the options in a democracy, he said.
Mr. Manna said lies have filled the polemics. The Constitution has been interpreted to justify the legitimacy of the incumbents in power. The fight is at a dangerous stage, but if there is goodwill it can be overcome. The government has taken this to an irreconcilable stage. National unity for democracy should be consolidated and a national dialogue should be called to end the crisis. -Staff Reporter